AN: DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except what is not explicitly stated as possession of the High School Musical series. (rest of Author's note down below!)

Kelsi looked at herself in the mirror, taking in the sight of the formfitting white and blue floral surplice dress and the black high heeled boots on her feet. Her hair was curled just right and her make-up flawless, but there was something missing and she knew it; she just wasn't sure if she wanted to fix it. With a sigh she re-applyied her lip gloss before turning to the dark blue knitted beret hat sitting on the dresser and frowned. That was what her ensemble needed, her signature hat, but she could not decide if she should wear it or not and could only stare at it in confusion.

The fact was, Paige Aker never wore hats. And this was mostly because, when Kelsi made the persona, hats reminded her of Ryan and she had wanted a clean slate for her new start. Hats were something that made Kelsi who she was, but Paige had to be different. Paige Aker just had to be different. So hats were kept for only Kelsi's use, not Paige's and they became one of the many things that separated Kelsi's two identities. But who was she going to be today?

Sure she wanted to be a new person to show all of her friends that she had grown into someone very different, which was true, but Troy and Gabriella had not invited Paige Aker, they had wanted their old friend Kelsi "the Playmaker" Nielsen. Isn't that who she should be? She should just be herself. But how could she be herself in the face of all of the people she had abandoned? How would she explain the lost years, because surely, Kelsi Nielsen would have never abandoned her friends. Kelsi Nielsen would have kept in contact all these years; and Kelsi Nielsen would have gone to these friends instead of disappearing off the face of the Earth when her whole world came crumbling down.

But...Kelsi Nielsen had been heartbroken. Could that really be an excuse?

The multiple identity disorder began to give her a headache and she almost grasped the hat in frustration to throw it across the room when she noticed a small hand reach over and grab it first. She jumped back in surprise and took in the sight of her daughter fiddling with the knitted beret before looking up at her mother with a huge smile, "You look so pretty mommy! But you need a hat." She held the hat out to her mother with a toothy grin and suddenly everything Kelsi had been debating within herself flew out the window.

"You think?" She asked playfully, taking the hat from her daughter as she herself tugged at her own newsboy cap.

"Definitely! Don't you think?"

Kelsi sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the smile reach her face before she took her daughter into her arms and kissing her forehead, "You are absolutely right. You are such a genius." She hugged Riley tight and nuzzled her face into her daughter's hat before whispering, "I love you so much."

Riley pulled away and smiled, "I love you too mommy, but come on! Zeke is going to be here soon and Grandpa and Grandma promised to take me to the zoo! But we can't leave until you leave because Grandma insists on pictures!"

Kelsi smiled and chuckled, "Alright honey, just let me put on the hat alright? I'll meet you downstairs." She watched as Riley skipped out and looked down at the hat in her hand, taking a deep breath before bobby-pinning it to her hair. She brushed her hand through her ringlets and sighed, a warm rush of comfort rushing through her body as if they seeped down from the hat itself. She looked like her old self again, the vision of an eighteen year old Kelsi looking back at her for a second before she sighed and closed her eyes. Right now, she was Kelsi and it felt so good.

With a final sigh she stood up with purse in hand and grabbed her coat, leaving her room just as the doorbell rang and a loud yell of adolescent joy screaming, "ZEKE!"

Troy paced back and forth in his designated groom's room, going over his vows in his head as he tugged at his tie. He felt like his insides were churning so much that they were surely going to spill out of him, but he couldn't calm down. He was a nervous wreck. Not to say that he was having second thoughts about marrying Gabriella, that was the one thing that he had always been sure of. Spending the rest of his life with her was a non-negotiable piece of the Troy Bolton contract he had with himself, but what he was extremely nervous of was that she might not walk through the doors when the music started.

He had not been allowed to see her since the reception last night and was anxious to hold her in his arms, but the night prior to he had had dreams that she had decidedly changed her mind last minute. Now it wasn't something Gabriella was likely to do, but his work on different shows had taught him that anything can happen even minutes until a show starts, so ,for his work, he was always prepared, but for this...would he be?

It was all becoming too much.

Suddenly the door opened and he feared the worse, picturing Taylor coming in with a sad face and knowing immediately that his life would be over, but instead he was met with a smiling Ryan Evans walking through the door in gray slacks and gray vest over a dark blue dress shirt, his signature matching fedora on his head. "Hey, Chad said you were in here, thought I'd come see how the groom is doing before the festivities start." Troy smiled and let out a sigh of relief causing Ryan to chuckle while walking over to his friend. "Hey. You have no idea how good it is to see you."

Ryan raised a brow at him, but Troy only shook his head, "It's nothing, I just...had this weird feeling you might be Chad or Taylor telling me that Gabriella is gone."

Ryan looked even more confused, "Wow. Paranoid much?" He laughed, "How could you even think there was a possibility of that even happening?" Troy didn't say anything, just continued to pace back and forth before Ryan finally sighed and stepped toward his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Dude, take a seat." Troy followed instruction and sat down heavily, as Ryan sat beside him, resting his elbows on his knees.

"What's going on man? Chad also said you've been in here pacing the life out of this carpet. You wanna talk about it?"

Troy sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully before answering. "I don't know what it is man, but, I have this huge fear that she's going to push me away. That she'll get scared or overwhelmed and just...won't show up. I know I'm being an idiot but...it just won't go away."

Ryan nodded, "But what brought this on?"

Troy shrugged, "I don't really know."

But as Ryan gave him a pointed look Troy could only sigh again and lean forward, "Alright well, that's a lie. It's just...this is a big step for us. This is a chapter in our lives that will change everything and, in the past, Gabriella has been known to just cut off what she feels is going in a different direction."

"You're talking about senior year, aren't you?" Ryan asked, taking in the sight of his friend as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Not just senior year," Troy said, "But junior year, summer before senior year...even last year."

At the last bit Ryan leaned back in surprise, "Wait. What?"

Ryan had been able to keep in touch with Troy and Gabriella through the years, they had all become pretty close, especially when his work found him in LA. Staying with Troy, Gabriella, and his sister was a lot more fun than staying in a hotel with screaming fans. So he knew about the ups and downs of their relationship starting from that first year back at East High when Chad and Taylor had torn Troy and Gabriella apart. And of course he knew about their summer at Lava Springs. Gabriella had broken up with Troy because they seemed to be on different paths and the same could be said about senior year, but he had never heard of anything happen last year. Last he had heard they were happy and then engaged.

"Gabriella broke up with you again last year?"

Troy sighed, "Yeah, and that could have been it for us."

"Woah." Ryan started, "What happened?"

Troy rubbed his face tiredly and pulled a ring out of his pocket; the wedding band meant for Gabriella that apparently he had not given to Chad yet. "I have wanted to marry Gabriella Montez for years. I would have married her right out of high school if I didn't know that she would not take too well to that idea, but I was ready to wait. And I thought after eight years we were finally in a place where we could move our relationship to the next level. I had just wrapped up my tour on Grease and was not committed to anything other than the idea of whisking Gabriella away for a romantic evening when my agent called and said that the touring company of Hairspray wanted me to open for their LA cast. I thought it was a sign that things were really looking up because this was the first time I had been called to be a principal. So I took her out and shared with her the news, which she was very excited for, but when I moved in for the proposal, I didn't expect what would happen next."


"Troy, wh-what are you doing?"

Troy looked at himself bending down on one knee and turned back to her with a crooked and confused smile, "Well dear, when a man loves a woman and wants to spend the rest of his life with her he usually gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring," For dramatic affect he pulled the ring he had bought out of his pocket and opened it, taking note of the slight gasp that came from Gabriella's mouth, "And then he proceeds to swell with nervousness before saying this: Gabriella Montez, I love you more than anything in this world. I've spent a majority of my life with you by my side and I want to spend the rest of it just the same way. Will you, marry me?"

She was quiet. Speechless actually, and not in the good 'I'm-so-happy-no-words-can-describe' kind of way. Her eyes held an immense amount of fear and Troy suddenly felt small in front of her and his heart begin to break. "This is the part where you say..." He trailed off, waiting for her to finish the sentence when her gaze dropped and she quietly answered.

"Troy, please get up."

Ryan whistled, "That sounds horrible man."

And Troy could only nod, "Trust me, it was so much worse than that."

"So what did she say?"

"Well," Troy sighed again, "She told me that her boss, Joy Hearn, was pulling away from Gilbert, Williams, and Hearn, to set up her own practice in Connecticut and she wanted Gabriella to be her partner. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and she wanted to go, but it left us at a cross roads. If I was to open in LA I couldn't leave with her. If anything I would be obligated to stay in Los Angeles for at least a year and if she took the job offer she would have to leave within the next two months."


"So what are you saying?"

He felt like his world was spinning in front of him but tried to focus very hard on the girl he loved in front of him. She sighed, "I'm saying that maybe this isn't the time..." She trailed off herself and Troy couldn't help but feel confused, "This isn't the time for what Gabriella? Time to take the next step in our relationship? Time to start our lives together? Time to marry me? What isn't this the time for?" He felt himself getting agitated; he didn't mean to sound angry, but he couldn't help it. Her rejection was tearing him apart.

"Woah, Wildcat, don't lose your temper at me. I'm just saying that we've got a lot of things to discuss. I mean, this opportunity with Hearn is the chance I've been waiting for and when you start the show it's not an ideal time to start planning a wedding. I'm not saying we'll never get married, I'm just saying not right now."

He turned to Gabriella confused and shaken before shaking his head, "Then when Gabriella? Tell me what am I supposed to do?"

She threw her hands up in frustration, "I don't know Troy, but maybe it is time for you to understand that this isn't just about you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The question seemed to make Gabriella even more frustrated, "What I mean is that this isn't just about how you feel and what you're supposed to do. It involves me too! How do I feel? What am I supposed to do?" She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "You go off on your tours for months at a time. We're apart for a majority of the year and I'm stuck here waiting for you to come back home. Now it's my turn to focus on my career and you can't handle it? Have you ever thought that maybe I'm just not ready to get married? That maybe I want my chance to further my career?"

She fixed him with a hard glare, "Or have you ever thought that maybe this relationship isn't one I want to build a marriage off of?" The minute she said it her expression changed entirely, her face paling while his did the same.

His breath caught in his throat and he slowly sputtered out, "Wh-wh-what?"

Which only made Gabriella's eyes brim with tears. She let out a huge exhale of heavy breath and said slowly, "Like I said, you're gone for months at a time. We're barely together anymore and if this is any indication of what the rest of our lives are going to be like then I'm not sure I want to be married to my webcam and cellphone."

He shook his head, "You can't be serious! Why didn't you say anything? You know that I would stop touring and acting in a heartbeat for you if that's what you really wanted."

"I know, but it's not what I really want!" She protested, tears freely flowing now, "It's not about you quitting or me quitting or whatever! It's the fact that we're heading in two very different directions and it's getting to be too much of a strain to hold on."

Troy felt his whole heart shatter into a million pieces, his grip on the velvet box that held the supposed engagement ring tightening painfully. "So...what you're saying is...this is it? After over ten years together you're running away again?"

At this she looked up at him, "What? What do you mean again?"

Troy dropped his gaze, "You know what I mean!" He said it quietly but with such extreme vehemence that Gabriella shied back before he continued, "For years you've done this, when it gets too hard you pull away! It's always me who has to fight for you, but you're never willing to fight for me!"

"That's completely ridiculous! Just because I won't marry you?--"

"No! We're so way beyond marriage proposals!" Troy cried back, "Gabriella, you know that I would wait for you forever if I have to, but from what you've just said I can tell that I would be waiting for nothing if you think this relationship is going no where. I've known for years that the rest of my life is nothing without you, but you're obviously under a different impression."

"I never said that--"

"Actually yes you did." Troy cut her off again. he sighed and shook his head. "Tell me something Gabriella, who did all the breaking up in our history and who did all the work to make it work? Who risked their friends, their reputation, their scholarship opportunities, and even their family, for the other? Huh? Tell me who?"

"I knew you would throw it in my face one day!" Gabriella cried, "I knew you would hold it against me! You know you didn't have to do any of those things for me, I never asked you to do any of it! You chose out of your own free will!"

"That's right!" He answered, "Because I loved you! Because I LOVE you. And I have never once regretted my decisions to do anything and everything for you, but I have to wonder, have you ever loved me as much as I love you? Or have I just been fooling myself all these years?"

He felt his resolve begin to crumble as she cried openly now, her eyes barely able to open as his words cut through her, but he couldn't stop, he knew he was right and this time he couldn't be the one to go after her. If she really loved him, she would have to prove it this time around, "You know I love you! You know that I have always loved you!"

"Oh yeah?" Troy said, "Well to be honest Gabs. I don't know if I can believe you."

He couldn't stay here anymore. He had to get out of here and away from her trying to figure out his thoughts. So with that he got up and left, each step away from her like a knife digging further into his heart because she wasn't stopping him.

Ryan shook his head, "Wow. I can't believe it Troy, and you guys never told anyone?"

Troy shook his head, "I mean, it happened a long time ago and we've obviously gotten past it, but...it was still enough to shake up my entire world."

Ryan nodded and patted his friend, "But still. You both are here now. So, what happened next? You guys obviously reconciled. Did you end up going back?"

Troy chuckled and shook his head, "I almost did. But I didn't have to."


Troy had not seen her in nearly two weeks. When he had gotten home the night after they talked her stuff was gone and so was she, leaving him to face a downward spiral of depression that left him unshaven and un-showered for days. He knew that she was staying with Sharpay because she had called him demanding to know what had happened to which he only replied, "I proposed. She said no." Granted that wasn't the full story, but it was enough to prompt Sharpay to try and mediate. The only thing was, Troy was adamant about not giving in. He couldn't shake off the feeling that if he gave in this time, it would only come back to haunt him for the rest of their lives and he was already insecure enough. He felt as if his love for her would never be enough and he couldn't spend the rest of his life thinking that.

But even still he felt like he was going to go mad without her. On tour he could barely go an hour without calling her or texting her, now with absolutely no contact he was about ready to pull all of his hair out and head over to Sharpay's to plead for her forgiveness.

It was then that the doorbell rang and in a flash he stood up and headed for the door hoping beyond all hope that it was her. He pulled the door open, "Gabriella?!" But was only met with Sharpay, "Oh, uh, hey Shar what are you--"

"No time Bolton! Get some clothes on, shave your face and get your ass to the airport!" When he didn't move she pushed her way in, "Come on! Let's go!"

"What are you going on about Shar?"

But this only caused her to groan out loud in frustration and shook her head, "I woke up this morning and Gabriella had packed up her stuff again. She said that Hearn was leaving today to set up shop and Gabriella was originally going to join her next month, but since the two of you are on the outs she said she might as well go." His heart stopped.

"She's...she's leaving?"

Sharpay nodded, "And if you don't want that to happen buddy you better get your ass to the airport."

Troy couldn't move. He wanted to go after her but at the same time one thought and one thought only crossed his mind, "She's made her choice."

"What?!"

He wasn't aware that he had said anything out loud but as he looked up at Sharpay he felt the light within him go out as he realized the truth, "She's made her choice. I told her that I didn't believe her when she said she loves me as much as I love her and I was right. She doesn't. She's making it very clear."

"Oh Troy," Sharpay said, "Don't be an idiot! She's just an emotional wreck she doesn't know what she's doing at all! She thinks she's already lost you, she thinks she doesn't deserve you now."

At this it was Troy's turn to look at her in confusion, "She...what?"

Sharpay sighed, "She thought about what you said and realized that you were right. You were the one doing all the work and that she had never been the once to sacrifice anything for you, but instead of coming to you to fix it, she convinced herself that you deserved better."

Troy stepped toward Sharpay, "But no one is better than her. There is no one that could ever compare to Gabriella!"

Sharpay nodded, "I know that, but that's not the way she sees it."

Finally Troy took off toward his room, tearing his room apart as he changed, Sharpay following him as he talked out loud, "Then we have to go get her! She has to know that I can't live without her. I don't care if It was me to sacrifice everything, I will always sacrifice everything for her!" He retreated from his closet with a decent pair of jeans and quickly took off, not bothering to shave but brushing past Sharpay to grab his keys. "I'm not going to lose her. I've never let anything break us apart and my stupid mouth is not going to get in the flippin' way."

He grabbed his jacket and turned to Sharpay, "What airport is she heading to? And when is her flight."

"LAX and her flight is scheduled for 11:45, but traffic is likely to be piling up around this time do you think we can make it?"

"We have to! We just have to! I can't go on without--"

He caught sight of a petite dark haired girl standing in his doorway, large luggage settled behind her and tears streaming down her face, "Gabriella..." It took only a moment before the two of them rushed to each other and Troy grabbed onto her, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I was wrong--"

"No Troy I was wrong! You were right, I was willing to give up everything while you always fought for me. Fought for us. I should have known better. I should be willing to do the same. I'm sorry."

"Okay," Sharpay said, sniffling slightly before chuckling, "I think I'm just going to leave you two to it. Um. call me later?" The two barely registered Sharpay was there, but with a smile she slowly inched her way out of the apartment before closing the door behind her, leaving Troy and Gabriella to gaze into each others' eyes.

"I can't believe you're here. What happened? I thought you'd be on the way to be Joy Hearn's new partner" Troy said, brushing her tears away.

"I couldn't go through with it." Gabriella said, leaning into his palm as she met his gaze lovingly, "I got as far as the freeway before I realized that I could be the most prominent Lawyer in the entire world and it wouldn't mean a thing if I didn't get to spend every minute of it with you. I would rather fight for you than fight for a stupid job."

Troy smiled and felt his heart swell with an immense joy that could not be compared to as he chuckled while she brushed his own tears away, "I was totally planning on jumping on a plane to Connecticut and hiding in some random tree to wait for you." Which birthed a small one from Gabriella who could only pull him to her, pressing his lips to hers.

"Not this time Wildcat." She said as she pulled away, "This time it's my turn to come to you."

Ryan was completely blown away, "And you're nervous why?" He said, chuckling as his mind tried to wrap around the whole story. Troy laughed too and shook his head, "I know it's stupid to be nervous, but it was really close that time. After that day we did end up putting off our engagement for at least a little while, if anything to kind of re-evaluate everything, but what if she regrets her decision? This is the day to do it."

Ryan only laughed and shook his head, "Troy man, don't you see? There is no way she could regret her decision. She came back for you that time. She proved that she was ready to give it all up for you too. Don't doubt it anymore, just trust."

Troy sighed, "But she could just as easily have left."

"But she didn't." Ryan patted his friend on the knee and leaned forward, "Trust me man, you're right. She could have left and that would have been her decision, but she didn't. That means something kept her back. That means your love was something that she couldn't give up, and when that's the case then that leaves no room for doubt. If anyone knows how a career could test love it's me, but you guys passed the test."

Troy looked up, "You think so?"

Ryan nodded, "I know so man. It was obviously meant to be, and from what I can tell about Gabriella, who keeps chanting 'Mrs. Gabriella Bolton' under her breath, she has no doubt that she made the right decision."

Troy's grin grew, "She's saying that?"

Ryan laughed, "She hasn't stopped saying it. So quit worrying, she loves you. You're a lucky man."

Troy's grin turned into a goofy one as he himself said under his breath, "Mrs. Gabriella Bolton," feeling a rush of warmth run through his entire body, "You're right. Man, I have been so paranoid."

Ryan nodded, "I know, I told you." He stood up as Troy seemed to float up from his seat and suddenly he was pacing in anticipation, "What time is it? Is it time to start yet?"

Ryan could only laugh again, "We've still got half an hour man, just chill. But it's good to see you feeling better."

Troy smiled, "Yeah. Hey, thanks for listening Ryan. I really needed it."

Ryan could only wave him off, "No problem Troy, that's what friends are for right?"

"Right." Troy smiled as he pulled Ryan into a very manly and gruff hug.

"Well, I'm going to head out, gotta find Sharpay and ask her about some things."

Troy nodded, "I'll see you out there."

Ryan smiled, "You know it."

As he left he reached the door knob when Troy called out to him, "Hey Ry, you said that if anyone knew how a career could test love it was you, right?" Ryan turned, slightly startled by the question but nodded none the less. Troy settled his gaze on Ryan curiously and asked, "Did you pass?"

Ryan was surprised by the question, but none the less sighed and leaned against the door, the vision of a mousy brunette with a smile that could cripple him to the point where he could barely move came to mind. "I wish I had Troy. You really are lucky."

And with that he left the room, closing his eyes as he tried to push Kelsi's blue eyes out of his mind while the similarity between Troy and Gabriella's story to his and Kelsi's hit him. After seven years, he still wished that they had passed the test the same way Troy and Gabriella had.

AN: Whew. Sorry this is a little later than usual but I actually wrote and rewrote this Troy and Ryan scene ten-billion-kajillion-troyboltillion times. At first it started off as a Chad and Troy scene, then turned into a Ryan and Gabriella scene, but then I realized that Chad and Gabriella had their own scenes in the last two chapters so I decided my two favorite boys in the whole series needed some face time! Or...er...I guess...page time?

Plus, it was such a pleasure to write angsty goodness for the supposed Golden couple. I've read a fair few fanfiction (say that 10 times fast) where there has been lots of drama, but nobody has ever brought up the fact that in all three movies Troy has been the one to give up everything for Gabriella while she has willingly given it all up because it was "too hard". Did anyone else find that a little selfish on her part?

haha well anyway, I hope you won't get upset with me, that I haven't posted the reunion chapter yet, I didn't realize how long this chapter was and then found as I rewrote this scene for again an [umpteenth] time the chapter break seemed natural here. But, that means that the next chapter should be up by this Saturday [i have to go through the reunion so that it's just right because if this chapter made me change it asjjfkdsajkl;afd number of times then that one will be ridiculous.] Please read and review.

Show me some love.

And let me know if you're ready to throw raw veggies in anger.

if you find yourself with such a desire...then leave a review anyway and do so. I can take it! Veggies are good for you!

though to be honest I will find it a bit disturbing if you through any veggietale characters at me. the prospect of eating them or eating non-talking veggies in front of them seems strangely cannibilistic! or...er....vegitarian? -_-x it would just be traumatizing. Please don't do it.

thank you!
-scribbling wordsmith